Serhii Novosad: when fast pace and improvement become a lifestyle
Person: Serhiy Novosad
Position: Chief mechanic of the mechanized production site
Structural unit: Department of Technical Support
Work experience in the company: 13 years
The trait I value most in people: Honesty and sincerity
Favorite time of year: Spring, especially May. I love when everything turns green, blooms. In a word – you want to live
Superpower: The ability to negotiate with any person
The Greatest Myth of Profession: Myth 1: Theory is always equal to practice. Many believe that what is taught in universities or courses is perfectly applied in real life. In fact, theory is not always combined with practice. Myth 2: Mechanical engineer — is just a locksmith with a diploma. In fact, a mechanical engineer — is a specialist who develops, designs, analyzes and improves mechanisms, machines, and structures. His knowledge includes mathematics, materials science, thermodynamics, hydraulics, automation and CAD/CAM systems. This is a completely different level of responsibility and knowledge.
A song or movie associated with daily work: Movie «Gentlemen of Luck»
How would you explain to your child exactly what you do? I install production (as a designer) so that people can work on them and manufacture certain products
If you could switch roles for one day with anyone in VILIA, who would it be? I would change with the technical director (Olexander Popov)
Life philosophy is formed at work: «Work has taught me to look at life much easier. Thanks to the great experience I have gained, I have managed to find an approach to people that is extremely valuable.
1. What does working at VILIA mean to you?
I like working here. I don't like monotonous work, and working at VILIA — is constant development and moving forward. The company has a very high pace of work: you have to constantly run somewhere, negotiate with someone, do not forget anything. If you ignore something — will be a space and then it will be difficult to catch up or fix. I have already moved this work pace to life. When I walk with my family after work, they give me a remark about where I'm in such a hurry. And I'm already used to fast movement, it's already on the machine. But I like it! Every day is something new and it is the greatest value. I feel the greatest euphoria in life when I finish something, bring it closer to the ideal, “finish it”. This process of continuous improvement — is a real source of pleasure. I always strive to bring the matter to the ideal, and this is what inspires me the most.
2. What qualities should «Specialist of the year» have in your field?
I believe that «Specialist of the year» in my field, for example, the chief mechanic should first of all be charismatic and communicative. It is important to be able to communicate clearly and constructively with subordinates, because without this, effective is impossible. Also, the desire to work — is the most important thing, not to be lazy.
3. What was the most memorable moment or project of your career for you?
I'll never forget the day I was interviewed, in fact, my first day here. I remember being met by older, already experienced colleagues. At that time, the chief mechanic was Anatoly Oleksiyovych Golovko. He gave me some “iron” in my hand and said: “Draw a premium sketch”. It meant I had a few minutes. Since the part was round, the drawing was drawn rectangular. Some did not immediately understand that I drew a detail in a section! Then I was praised for my flair and I was immediately hired. In general, it's always memorable when you get praise. And not necessarily material. A good word is always nice.
4. What advice would you give to newcomers just joining the company?
When a beginner joins our company and team, it is important to get the start right. Clearly understand your powers and responsibilities, define the limits of what is required of you. My main tip is to constantly develop —. Time does not stand still, so always look for new knowledge and skills. Even in your free time, when browsing social networks, pay attention to something interesting and useful. Don't neglect the capabilities of tools like ChatGPT either. Of course, the company itself provides many opportunities for development. For us, valuable trainings are regularly held with material that is rarely found anywhere. Be sure to work on self-development — is the key to success here.
5. What key changes have taken place in your work during this year, and how have they affected your professional development?
The most important change this year has been that we have been able to upgrade equipment and tools that make our work much easier. This made it possible to automate many processes, which, in turn, significantly increased the efficiency and quality of our work. In parallel with this, the professional level of employees has also increased significantly. To master the new equipment, I had to learn, read and master new knowledge. This became a real impetus for the development of the entire team. I can see this growth well — before I suggested more, and now I myself learn a lot from colleagues.
6. What were the challenges facing you this year, and how did you deal with them?
What did you learn from this experience? Of course, there were many challenges this year, but I want to recall one special point. Sometimes when working on certain equipment, we lacked knowledge or experience, we did not know how to do the right thing. And here the invaluable experience of colleagues who were forced to move to us from other regions of Ukraine came to our aid — I mean internally displaced persons. The knowledge and experience of these people, in particular in our field, have become a very valuable resource for us. This helped us not only to cope with difficulties, but also to get out of difficult situations qualitatively.
7. What are you most proud of this year in the context of your professional activity at VILIA? It can be a completed project, a solved problem, a new skill mastered, etc.
This year I am most proud to have mastered the programming skills of Siemens CNC lathes. It was extremely interesting and honestly raised my self-esteem a little. For me, this is another proof that I am not standing still, but moving forward.
8. Which of VILIA's values (professionalism, decency, systematicity, initiative, team approach, responsibility) was key for you in achieving this year's successes? Give an example of how you demonstrated it in your work.
This is an interesting question. First of all, it is the responsibility of – and here I mean the responsibility of everyone in the team. One person or even a manager cannot do everything himself, he simply will not have time physically. But when you know that there is a team nearby that does its job responsibly and nothing “rejects” – it is very valuable. Together we guarantee quality and results. Another key value of – is professionalism. If you sum up the work of the technical department, you can see how much the professional level has increased in various fields. It's just impossible not to notice! In my opinion, the greatest value in the – company is that we grow specialists ourselves. Practitioners from technical institutions come to us, undergo internships, and then stay to work. And now we have specialists of such a high level, which not every company can boast of. They came to us as simple locksmiths or welders, and today – are real professionals.
9. What goals do you set for yourself for the coming year?
There is a big goal — to master the technology and work on new equipment: the latest sheet benders and laser metal cutting machines. These are new opportunities that will significantly improve the quality of work and will certainly add even more interest to our work.
10. How do you see the future of your profession or industry as a whole?
I see the future of my field, namely production, as more robotic and automated. This means less manual labor, more sensors, robots and complex lines. However, the key role of specialists who will work with these works will only grow. As specialists, it is very important for us to deeply understand the entire production algorithm: from the intricacies of the processes to the nuances of the settings. After all, in order to give a technical task to the same work, it is necessary to translate the entire algorithm of its work into machine language. If you miss even one detail, it can lead to breakdown or decrease in product quality. That is why in my work it is most important to find the cause of the breakdown first of all. You can fix the fault, but if you don't fix the root of the problem, it will definitely happen again. And here no ChatGPT will help! Finding the cause and approach to repairing — is a kind of technology that requires a certain creativity. I was fortunate to have been able to learn from experienced colleagues early in my career. I kept asking them questions and no one spared knowledge. Step by step, I put this puzzle together, and it became a solid foundation for my professional development. In the future, despite robotics, it is human experience and the ability to think outside the box that will remain our most valuable advantage.
